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Beck 😍 !!!

I would have even preferred we brought him up the last few weeks to at least see what he could do at the deadline. Even if it was in Ylonen’s (spit (another useless player this year).

Lias Andersson was injured and missed a lot of the second half of the season. Josh Anderson finished 2022-23 strong, so when he struggled to start the year, they were going to give him time to work out of the slump. By the time they would have made such a switch, Lias was injured, and then by the time he came back, he needed time to get to game speed again after the long injury. So when would the move have been made?

No. If trade him no later than the next trade deadline, unless we are in a playoff hunt next year and he is a main cog. Either way, he should be gone at the end of next year, unless it was for a salary no higher than $1.5m for a 1 yr term.

Frankly, I would have like to have seen Lias Andersson and had the two of them trade spots during the year.

Mattheson is the vet to keep around. Guhle, Kovacevic, Harris, and Xhekaj will be entering their third seasons in the league. They aren't rookies anymore. At this point, they should be able to take a step without Savard. Struble played four full years of college so he's a bit more mature as well. And Barron is make or break now, does he need Savard standing in his way on the Right side.

I agree with your assessment of Savard. He will be a useful NHLer for years yet. He will decline but he won’t fall off a cliff. I still don’t want to sign him. Trade him this summer if possible and let the kids play.

Weber was clutch in that Cup Final run ... his subsequent "implosion" was entirely injury related ... I see Savard as more a Hal Gill who managed to play, admittedly in declining numbers of games, until he was 39. Deadline deals are almost always for draft picks or recently drafted players who are a couple of years away from the NHL ... is that worth more than the veteran support that Savard can provide the youngsters, especially the RHD, as they break in?

I'm thinking that Beck might be a better fit for an Armia-type role, although he might ende up playing centre. I expect we'll know much more for both Beck and Tuch a year from now.

No I'm moving him this summer or next trade deadline when his value will be highest. He will only decline with age.

Savard Will implode in his old age like Weber. I hope they trade him at the next deadline to improve the team.

thanks

RANDOM THOUGHT: If David Savard were willing to sign a 3-yr extension this summer for $2.25 AAV with 25/26 20-team, 26/27 10-team NTC and 27/28 5-team NTC would you do it? Makes him (hopefully) the 35-yr-old, 3rd pairing, veteran RHD to support Reinbacher and Mailloux the season after next ... AAV still tradeable.

I think if Slovakia indicated they'd add Mesar to the roster, they'd lean toward going that way. Houle is not one who typically likes playing prospects at this time of the year unless his hand is forced so I'm not sure Mesar would get regular minutes in what could be a very limited postseason.

Offensively, not a bad comparison. He's good on board work/cycling with a decent enough shot (not quite as strong as Armia's though). He might be a 10-goal guy in the NHL. Defensively, I'd be pleasantly surprised if he got to Armia's level.

Here's the official Laval roster and he's on that one: https://theahl.com/stats/roster/415/81?league=4

While Pittsburgh is owned by FSG, they're not exactly known as being high-spending teams when it comes to the front office. Dubas is all in on analytics which aligns with ownership. He could go on a three-year vacation in the Bahamas and still have his job. At the time of the Karlsson trade, the thought was this would make them a playoff contender. By the deadline, they were a few points out and Guentzel is a pending UFA. The fact they prioritized prospects over picks suggests they're not moving off the win-now (or soon) approach but knew there was a good chance Guentzel was leaving for nothing in free agency so they opted to sell. Yep. 12 wins the first lottery. That locks SJ at 1 and 12 moves up to 2. Whoever wins the second lottery gets 3, hence the miniscule odds.

that is a great observation on the Newhook line. Anderson was considered by many as a glorified 3rd liner that had an outliers season before getting injured in CBJ MB touted him a à player that helps you in the playoff and often pushed criticism on regular season dry spells he had. He was overpaid because the Habs needed that type of player during the Price-Weber window. In the current team’s context, Anderson is useless. Playing 3rd line will not raise his trade value, unless he has an unselfish centre like Evans to do all the dirty/defensive work for him. my hope is that the Habs get an uncontested top-6 forward that pushes Anderson out of the top-6 and out of the team on a trade

I think you have it right. Flyers have a 5.1% chance of winning (and drafting second); if that happens, Habs have an 8.6% chance of winning the second draw, and that would result in a roughly 0.3% probability of drafting third, behind the Flyers.

Gignac tried skating before last weekend’s games and could not come back. A lower-body (Knee?) injury Stephens is expected to come back for the games

A-game Anderson has value, but his game is effectively a solo effort, so the linemates need to play accordingly. I give you the Armia-Newhook-Gallagher line (with two of the most maligne forwards we have) as the counterexample: the three players play with each other, look for each other and work together to create scoring chances.

Just to be 100% accurate, here is what Hughes said in his interview with Seravalli; " if somebody is clearly the best player available you're taking that player, for us if the best player available was a left shot D, I dunno maybe we would try and make a trade, trade up or trade back or something of that nature" I would guess that means they are less likely to take a Dickinson or Silayev.

For example: https://www.tankathon.com/nhl/pick_odds I stared at the odds for a while, and logically I don't see where the 0.3% comes from ... if the Habs win either lottery they pick #1 or #2 ... if two teams ahead of them win the lotteries they stay at #5 ... if one of the teams ahead of them and one teams behind them (6th to 12th) win the lotteries they drop to #6 ... if two teams behind them (6th to 12th) win the lotteries they drop to #7.

I thought about the same thing, I am still thinking. I think it might have something to do with a team outside the top ten winning the lottery and can only move up 10 spots. So let's say they move from 12 to 2 and then the Habs win the 2 slot lottery but that is already taken so they move to 3 instead??? Maybe

Jankov not on the listed 17 (18 with Tuch) ... If Stephens, Perreault and Gignac are "out" there are still 15 potential forwards ... and I expect Gignac (leading scorer) and Stephens would likely dress, if at all possible, before the youngsters.